Sectional covers for open-top vehicles are disclosed by the following United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 2,074,358, granted Mar. 23, 1937, to Edward Carl Vixel and Temple C. Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,523, granted Sep. 19, 1969, to Charles J. Lutgen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,378, granted May 11, 1971, to Edwing Anderson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,395, granted May 23, 1989, to Ann B. Lovaas; U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,766, granted Nov. 26, 1991, to Olaf K. Lovaas; U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,082, granted Jan. 25, 2000, to Michael C. Leoni; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,349, granted May 9, 2002, to Jerry T. Doll and Duane J. Thomas.
There is a need for a sectional cover for an open-top vehicle load bed that includes a simple, easy-to-operate mechanism for moving the sections between retracted and extended positions. The primary object of the present invention is to fill this need.